A Tale About Sodeok-Dong 2
Young-Woo is met with hostility from her colleagues, who think she’s not up to the job. She’s also struggling to keep up with the demands of her new job, which is a lot more than she was used to. But Young-Woo is determined to show them that she can handle anything and prove that she’s worth their trust.
As Min-Woo begins her new job at Hanbada, she is unaware of the connections her father has with the CEO and the company. News leaks of Young-Woo’s connections with the CEO and her father have caused a stir in the company.
Su-Yeon knows that Min-Woo is responsible for the sabotage, as they had a conversation about it before, but Young-Woo is still unaware. This time, the CEO joins them to listen in on their progress and give them some encouragement. She also urges them not to lose against Tae Su-Mi. ..
After the meeting, Su-Yeon shows off the news from the bulletin board. Defeated, Young-Woo brings up how she has benefited from nepotism. However, Su-Yeon stands up for her, fighting Young-Woo’s cause and pointing out how not hiring her in the first place is a form of discrimination, given her autism. Su-yeon encourages her to fight back against Min-Woo and shows that she really does belong there. ..
Hanbada Law Firm and Tae Su-Mi’s group both show up at Sodeok-Dong, awaiting the judges who agreed last episode to show up and check the town out. It’s a miserable day and both law-firms join the judges as they’re led through the town. However, Heung-Min and several other townsfolk have actually consented to the road, given Tae Su-Mi has offered double what they were originally offered as compensation.
343 of the 488 households in town have actually consented to this new compensation amount, and as a result it’s swung things in the prosecution’s favour.
The town is concerned that the amount being offered is not an accurate representation of what they are owed, and could lead to the whole case being dismissed. ..
Hanbada is dividing the town into red and blue zones in order to try and work out where they stand in all of this. The ones in blue are likely to side with the law firm, while the ones in red are those who would move out after receiving compensation. ..
Residents in Taesan are facing a precarious situation as they wait to hear if they will be given more money to leave the area. Several residents have already succumbed to the temptation of receiving more money and moving on. And this number seems to be rising, as Taesan work overtime to begin handing out forms to convince them to leave. ..
Young-Woo is one of many people trying to sell legal services door-to-door in South Korea. She chats with Tae Su-Mi, who has a wedding dress case that she wants to sell. Su-Mi is impressed and offers Young-Woo an alternate route through the world of law. ..
Taesan is a better fit for me, Su-Mi tells Young-Woo. ..
Min-Woo watches from afar as Young-Woo confronts her about what she wrote in her blog post. She admits that it may be true, but she doesn’t care if it was her or someone else. Min-Woo decides to confront her directly, telling her that what she wrote may be true, but it doesn’t matter if it was him or someone else.
Ge-Ra-Mi is so upset that she can’t take it anymore and decides to take her daughter with her. Tae Su-Mi is so relieved that she can finally be a mother to her own again.
In hospital, while Young-Woo is recovering, Woo Gwang-Ho elaborates on how he met Tae-Su at university and she was conceived when they weren’t ready. Su-Mi wanted to give her up but Gwang-Ho pleaded with Su-Mi not to terminate.
Gwang-Ho offered to raise the baby himself and not take the bar exam, even going so far as to plead on his knees to let her agree. And as promised, Gwang-Ho is handed little Young-Woo and a bag of things.
Since then, Young-Woo has come to terms with the fact that he should have fought harder for his younger brother.
As they talk, Young-Woo has a moment of realization that the hackberry tree could be their trump card in the road development case.
Jun-Ho is startled by the sudden ringing and looks at his father in confusion. “Hurry up and leave, Dad,” Young-Woo says, harshly ringing Jun-Ho and bringing up the suspicious way the hackberry tree couldn’t become a natural monument. Young-Woo actually rings at 3.10am though. So naturally she has to wait until the morning.
When they investigate further, we learn more about the tree. To designate the Sodeok-Dong hackberry tree as a natural monument, they have to ask Gyeonghae-Do first.
The committee is tasked with reviewing whether or not a cultural heritage site should be designated. If they decide that it should, they write up a report asking the Cultural Heritage to designate it. The person who plays the violin in town, Yu-Jin, works at the office. When questioned about the issue, things are awkward because he’s heading off to find documents pertaining to when experts arrived on hand to examine the tree. ..
Jun-Ho speaks to Young-Woo, who admits that she does like him. However, they are interrupted by Yu-Jin running away. Yu-Jin had been running because he never actually filed the report for the tree, nor did he ask the cultural Heritage Committee. ..
Taesan was convinced the subway was good for the town and decided to fake the whole thing. In court, he won over the committee, but they don’t win the war.
The judge’s decision to suspend proceedings and allow for a rebuttal from Yu-Jin was based on the idea that the dolphin represented a symbol of peace and goodwill.
Young-Woo manages to stop the case for the time being, getting the one-up over Su-Mi. Not only that, but the permission for the hackberry tree being made a natural monument is going ahead too, meaning the road will be forced to change. Another win for Young-Woo, hoorah!
At Taesan Law Firm, Young-Woo shows up to see her mother and talk in private. Young-Woo brings up that she is her daughter, given their familial ties, and decides that she can’t leave Hanbada to join Taesan, given how she abandoned her. Su-Mi is shocked and Young-Woo decides to stay by her father’s side after all. ..
“No,” Young-Woo responds. “I don’t resent you. I just want to be able to move on.”
The Episode Review
In the two-parter, we follow the development of a road development case that has been going on for months. The case is complicated and the attorneys are working hard to get a verdict. At the halfway point of this two-parter, things are starting to heat up.
The tension in this episode was palpable, as the two teams fought for control of the tree. In the end, Young-Woo and Hanbada emerged victorious thanks to their teamwork. This was perhaps going to be the deciding factor, given the emphasis on this through the two episodes, but it’s nice to see the writers use this as a way of solving the case. ..
The main point of this story is that there is a lot of character development in the characters. Young-Woo sides with her father and deals with her mother and unveiling the truth.
The irony here is that Young-Woo has actually shown a surprising amount of maturity to tackle this issue head-on and do so with enough courage and truth to show how strong-willed she actually is.
The drama involving Min-Woo is going to continue for a long time and I imagine he’ll eventually find out the familial link to Tae Su-Mi.
This show continues to deliver the goods with another very solid episode. Roll on next week!
